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Porthgwarra To Pordenack Point
Porthgwarra to Pordenack Point is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in west Cornwall, England, noted for its biological characteristics. The South West Coast Path runs through the SSSI. Geography The site, notified in 1977, is located on the western coast of Cornwall, south of Land's End. It starts in the south at the settlement of Porthgwarra and continues north along the coast of the last sections of the English Channel to Pordenack Point in the north.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Other designations are part of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a Geological Conservation Review site, part of the Penwith Heritage coast, Nature Conservation Reviewsite and there are Scheduled Ancient Monuments within the area. Wildlife and ecology Porthgwarra to Pordenack Point Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is designated for its vegetation of waved maritime heath, and for being of considerable ornithological interest; es ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Site Of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man. SSSI/ASSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in the United Kingdom are based upon them, including national nature reserves, Ramsar sites, Special Protection Areas, and Special Areas of Conservation. The acronym "SSSI" is often pronounced "triple-S I". Selection and conservation Sites notified for their biological interest are known as Biological SSSIs (or ASSIs), and those notified for geological or physiographic interest are Geological SSSIs (or ASSIs). Sites may be divided into management units, with some areas including units that are noted for both biological and geological interest. Biological Biological SSSI/ASSIs may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birdwatchers
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by listening for bird sounds, or by watching public webcams. Most birdwatchers pursue this activity for recreational or social reasons, unlike ornithologists, who engage in the study of birds using formal scientific methods. Birding, birdwatching, and twitching The first recorded use of the term ''birdwatcher'' was in 1901 by Edmund Selous; ''bird'' was introduced as a verb in 1918. The term ''birding'' was also used for the practice of ''fowling'' or hunting with firearms as in Shakespeare's ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' (1602): "She laments sir... her husband goes this morning a-birding." The terms ''birding'' and ''birdwatching'' are today used by some interchangeably, although some participants prefer ''birding'', partly because it in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pieris Brassicae
''Pieris brassicae'', the large white, also called cabbage butterfly, cabbage white, cabbage moth (erroneously), or in India the large cabbage white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is a close relative of the small white, ''Pieris rapae''. The large white is common throughout Europe, North Africa and Asia. Distribution The large white is common throughout Europe, north Africa, and Asia to the Himalayas often in agricultural areas, meadows and parkland. It has managed to establish a population in South Africa and in 1995 it was predicted to spread to Australia and New Zealand. The large white is a strong flier and the British population is reinforced in most years by migrations from the continent. Scattered reports of the large white from the north-eastern United States (New York, Rhode Island and Maine) over the past century are of a dubious nature and indicate either accidental transport or intentional release. Such introductions threaten to establish this agric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silver Studded Blue
The silver-studded blue (''Plebejus argus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It has bright blue wings rimmed in black with white edges and silver spots on its hindwings, lending it the name of the silver-studded blue. ''P. argus'' can be found across Europe and east across the Palearctic, but is most often studied in the United Kingdom in which the species has experienced a severe decline in population due to habitat loss and fragmentation. ''P. argus'' engages in mutualism with ants that contribute to the butterflies' reproductive fitness by providing protection from predation and parasitism from the point of egg laying to their emergence as adults. ''P. argus'' adults emerge in the end of June and beginning of July and engage in flight into the beginning of August. The butterfly is adaptable to different habitats and is found in heathland, mossland, and limestone grassland. Tending towards a sedentary lifestyle and typically flying less than a day, ''P. argus'' maint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Whitethroat
The common whitethroat or greater whitethroat (''Curruca communis'') is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical Africa, Arabia, and Pakistan. Taxonomy The English ornithologist John Latham described the common whitethroat in 1783 in his ''A General Synopsis of Birds'' but introduced the binomial name ''Sylvia communis'' in the supplement to this work which was published in 1787. The specific ''communis'' is Latin for "common". The common whitethroat is now placed in the genus ''Curruca'' that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1802. This species may appear to be closely related to the lesser whitethroat, the species having evolved only during the end of the last ice age similar to the willow warbler and chiffchaffs. However, researchers found the presence of a white throat is an unreliable morpho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Stonechat
The European stonechat (''Saxicola rubicola'') is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a subspecies of the common stonechat. Long considered a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, genetic evidence has placed it and its relatives in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. Taxonomy and systematics The European stonechat was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Motacilla rubicola''. This species is now placed in the genus ''Saxicola'' that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1802. The English name derives from its call, sounding like two stones knocked together. The scientific name ''Saxicola'' means "rock-dweller", from Latin ''saxum'' meaning "a rock" and ''incola'' meaning "dwelling in". The specific epithet combines the Latin ''rubus'' meaning "brambles" with ''incola''. The subspecies name ''hibernans'' refers to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Teal
The Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca''), common teal, or Eurasian green-winged teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in temperate Eurosiberia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian teal is often called simply the teal due to being the only one of these small dabbling ducks in much of its range. The bird gives its name to the blue-green colour teal. It is a highly gregarious duck outside the breeding season and can form large flocks. It is commonly found in sheltered wetlands and feeds on seeds and aquatic invertebrates. The North American green-winged teal (''A. carolinensis'') was formerly (and sometimes is still) considered a subspecies of ''A. crecca''. Taxonomy The Eurasian teal belongs to the "true" teals, a group of small ''Anas'' dabbling ducks closely related to the mallard (''A. platyrhynchos'') and its relatives; that latter group in fact seems to have evolved from a true teal. It forms a superspecies with the green-winged teal and the speckled ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-billed Chough
The red-billed chough, Cornish chough or simply chough ( ; ''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus '' Pyrrhocorax''. Its eight subspecies breed on mountains and coastal cliffs from the western coasts of Ireland and Britain east through southern Europe and North Africa to Central Asia, India and China. This bird has glossy black plumage, a long curved red bill, red legs, and a loud, ringing call. It has a buoyant acrobatic flight with widely spread primaries. The red-billed chough pairs for life and displays fidelity to its breeding site, which is usually a cave or crevice in a cliff face. It builds a wool-lined stick nest and lays three eggs. It feeds, often in flocks, on short grazed grassland, taking mainly invertebrate prey. Although it is subject to predation and parasitism, the main threat to this species is changes in agricultural practices, which have led to population decline, some local extirpation, and range fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Cormorant
The great cormorant (''Phalacrocorax carbo''), known as the black shag in New Zealand and formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds. The genus name is Latinised Ancient Greek, from φαλακρός (''phalakros'', "bald") and κόραξ (''korax'', "raven"), and ''carbo'' is Latin for "charcoal". It breeds in much of the Old World, Australia, and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of North America. Taxonomy and etymology The long white-breasted cormorant ''P. c. lucidus'' found in sub-Saharan Africa, has a white neck and breast. It is often treated as a full species, ''Phalacrocorax lucidus'' (e.g. , ). In addition to the Australasian and African forms, ''Phalacrocorax carbo novaehollandiae'' and ''P. c. lucidus'' mentioned above, other geographically distinct subspecies are recognised, including ''P. c. sinensis' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Shag
The European shag or common shag (''Gulosus aristotelis'') is a species of cormorant. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Gulosus''. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, mainly wintering in its breeding range except for the northernmost birds. In Britain this seabird is usually referred to as simply the shag. The scientific genus name derives from the Latin for glutton. The species name ''aristotelis'' commemorates the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Taxonomy The European shag was formerly classified within the genus ''Phalacrocorax'', but a 2014 study found it to be significantly more diverged than the clade containing ''Phalacrocorax'' and ''Urile'', but basal to the clade containing ''Nannopterum'' and ''Leucocarbo'', and thus classified it in its own genus, ''Gulosus''. The IOC followed this classification in 2021. ''Gulosus'' is thought to have split from the ''Nannopterum''-''Leucocarbo'' clade betwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Fulmar
The northern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialis''), fulmar, or Arctic fulmar is a highly abundant seabird found primarily in subarctic regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. There has been one confirmed sighting in the Southern Hemisphere, with a single bird seen south of New Zealand. Fulmars come in one of two color morphs: a light one, with white head and body and gray wings and tail, and a dark one, which is uniformly gray. Though similar in appearance to gulls, fulmars are in fact members of the family Procellariidae, which include petrels and shearwaters. The northern fulmar and its sister species, the southern fulmar (), are the extant members of the genus . The fulmars are in turn a member of the order Procellariiformes, and they all share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns; however, nostrils on albatrosses are on the sides of the bill, as opposed to the rest of the order, including fulm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Razorbill
The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis impennis''). Wild populations live in the subarctic waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Razorbills are primarily black with a white underside. The male and female are identical in plumage; however, males are generally larger than females. This agile bird, which is capable of both flight and diving, has a predominantly aquatic lifestyle and only comes to land in order to breed. It is monogamous, choosing one partner for life. Females lay one egg per year. Razorbills nest along coastal cliffs in enclosed or slightly exposed crevices. The parents spend equal amounts of time incubating, and once the chick has hatched, they take turns foraging for their young. In 1918, the razorbill was protected in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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